TO STRANGLE A ROSE

"Intent is chaotic without structure, Mr. Riddle."
"Then let us see whose magic holds its structure best, Miss Valerius."
London, 1938. The Muggle world stands on the precipice of a devastating war, but within the rain-shadowed walls of Hogwarts, a different kind of conquest is brewing.
Tom Marvolo Riddle is used to being the anomaly. He is brilliant, cold, and meticulously engineered to dominate every room he enters. He expects his first year in Slytherin to be a flawless display of his undisputed superiority.
Then comes Rosalia Valerius.
As the heir to an ancient, continent-spanning magical lineage, Rosalia breathes the very history, wealth, and effortless power that Tom is desperately trying to steal. She doesn't fear his dark aura; she dissects it. She doesn't blow to his intellect, she matches it, stroke for stroke, footnote for footnote.
They do not hate each other. They are simply hyper-aware that in a school full of ordinary sheep, they are the only two predators worth watching. What begins as a fierce classroom rivalry over spilled ink and perfect casting slowly mutates over the years into something far more dangerous.
For Tom, defeating Rosalia is no longer enough. He wants to dismantle her walls. He wants to rewrite his grand, dark future to ensure she is at the absolute center of it. Because Tom Riddle does not love - he possesses. And a rose as magnificent as Rosalia Valerius belongs exclusively to him.
Even if he has to strangle her to keep her.